Receptacle for litter



April 5, 1960 woo 2,931,550

RECEPTACLE FOR LITTER Filed Feb. 10. 1958 INVEN TOR.

James M Wood RECEPTACLE FOR LITTER James M. Wood, Pasadena, Calif.

Application February 10, 1958, Serial No. 714,301

2 (llaims. (Cl. 224-4242) During recent years, civic pride has resultedin city and statewide campaigns to improve the appearance of streets androads by eliminating the throwing out of litter by vehicle drivers. Theprovision of a simple, practical and convenient container for litter, tobe kept in the car, is a primary object of this invention.

Another object of this invention is to provide a litter receptacle madeout of one piece of sturdy material so that an unskilled person mayassemble it.

A further object of this invention is to provide a rubbish receptaclethat has a self-closing door to prevent the falling out of its contentswhen the door is opened.

The invention also has for its objects to provide such means that arepositive in operation, convenient in use, easily installed in a workingposition and easily disconnected therefrom, economical of manufacture,relatively simple, and of general superiority and serviceability.

The invention also comprises novel details of construction and novelcombinations and arrangements of parts, which will more fully appear inthe course of the following description. However, the drawing merelyshows and the following description merely describes, one embodiment ofthe present invention, which is given by way of illustration or exampleonly.

In the drawing, like reference characters designate similar parts in theseveral views.

Fig. l is a perspective view of a conventional vehicle seat showing oneembodiment of my invention installed thereunder.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of my improved litter receptacle.7

Fig. 3 is a still further enlarged, vertical, longitudinal section,partly in elevation, taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a broken, vertical transverse section taken on the line 44 ofFig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a reduced plan view of the blank from which the container isformed.

The invention that is illustrated includes a receptacle 6 made of onepiece of sturdy fibre board, or any other material found suitable forthe purpose. The container 6 comprises a bottom wall 7 of rectangularformation, upstanding side walls 8', 8a, 9 and 9a which taper rearwardlyfrom the front to a narrow end wall 19, and a top wall 11 similar tobottom wall 7'. As shown in Fig. l, the receptacle for container 6 isarranged to fit in the space under a conventional vehicle seat which, asis known to those skilled in the art, slopes downward toward the rear.

A door 12 is formed of two panels 13 and 14, as best shown in Fig. 5.Said panels are folded one upon the other along a fold line 15 andfastened by staples 16, or other suitable means, to form a door ofdouble thickness. Bottom wall 7 has an extension 17 to accommodate theextra thickness of panels 13 and 14. Panels 13 and 14 are made slightlylonger than the width of the bottom wall 7 so as to cover the exposedfront edges 18, 18a, 19, and 19a of side walls 8, 8a, 9 and 9a,respectively,

States Patent 2,931,550 Patented Apr. 5, 1960 See to give the receptaclea neat, finished appearance, as best shown in Fig. 2. Panel 14 ispreferably slightly narrower than panel 13 so that panel 14 will notreach the bottom 7, when the door 12 is folded upwardly at line 20.

As shown in Fig. 3, the front edges 18 and 18a of the walls 8 and 8a arebeveled to provide clearance for the door 12 in its closed position.

The blank shown in Fig. 5 illustrates how the container may be made ofone piece of material. Rear wail 10 is folded normal to bottom wall 7 onfold line 25 and again folded at 26 so that top wall 11 may overlie saidbottom wall. Next, inner side walls 8 and 8a are folded normal to bottom7 and outer side walls 9 and 9a are folded normal to top wall 11 outsideof walls 8 and 8a, and fastened together by staples 27, adjacent edges18, 18a, 19 and 19a.

Side walls 8 and 9 are provided with apertures 28 and 28a and panels 13and 14 are provided with apertures 29 and 30,

A clasp or button 31 is placed opposite apertures 28 and 28a, which arealigned when the receptacle is in a folded condition, and a hook 32extending from said button 31 projects through said apertures 28 and 28ainto the interior of receptacle 6. A button 33 on the outside of thedoor 12 is disposed opposite the apertures 29 and 30, which are alignedwhen the panels of door 12 are folded together. A hook 34 on the button33 projects through the apertures 29 and 30 and into the container 6.

A spring, rubber band 35, or like article is connected from hook 32 tohook 34 to make the door self-closing.

While the foregoing specification illustrates and describes what I nowcontemplate to be the best mode of carrying out my invention, theconstruction is, of course, subject to modification without departingfrom the spirit and scope of my invention. Therefore, I do not desire torestrict the invention to the particular form of constructionillustrated and described, but desire to cover all modifications thatmay fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is:

1. In combination in a vehicle, a seat, mounted with space thereunder, alitter receptacle movably disposed in said space, said receptaclecomprising a bottom wall, upstanding side walls, a narrow end wall, atopwall taper- Iing upward from said end wall to an open end of heightconforming to the under-seat space, and a door hinged below arranged toclose said open end, said door having a portion extending above the topwall and contacting the front face of said vehicle seat to limitmovement of the receptacle under the seat.

2. In combination in a vehicle, a seat mounted with space thereunder, alitter receptacle movably disposed in said space, said receptaclecomprising a bottom wall, upstanding side walls, a narrow end wall, atopwall tapering upward from said end wall to an open end of heightconforming to the under-seat space, a door hinged to the bottom wall atthe front end thereof, said door having a portion extending above thetop wall and a resilient fastener connected between the door and one ofthe receptacle walls maintaining the door upward and in contact with thefront wall of said vehicle seat for limiting movement of the receptacleunder the seat.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,216,071 Carstensen Feb. 13, 1917 1,669,139 Martin May 8, 19282,210,347 Story Aug. 6, 1940

